


Don't be dumb, Naruto!

by NoGravity



Category: Naruto
Genre: Crushes, Dancing, High School, Idiots in Love, Love Triangles, M/M, Team Fluff, Teen Angst, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 08:47:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18049346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoGravity/pseuds/NoGravity
Summary: "Dare" He said, to compensate for it and because nobody said it yet and he wasn't one to shy from a challenge."Uh oh, Sasukee" Ino was delighted, throwing him an all too malicious grin. "This is punishment for refusing the first question by the way" He did dread it a bit. She seemed like a scary person."I dare you, Sasuke Uchiha, to- dance with Naruto!!"





	Don't be dumb, Naruto!

**Author's Note:**

> Songs used in this fanfiction:
> 
> Bastille - Laura Palmer  
> Maroon 5 - Don't wanna know
> 
> I STRONGLY RECCOMEND listening to the two songs Before! reading this fic. It will make the experience more solid for you. :>
> 
> It was soo much fun writing this, I hope other people have fun reading it too. Comments encouraged anytime! :D

Sasuke tuned in at the last moment, when introductions started to take place.

"Sasuke-kun, these are the guys I was telling you about. My childhood friends" Sakura gestured to each in turn, as she said their names. "Yamanaka Ino, Shikamaru Nara and Uzumaki Naruto"

She was happily clinging to Sasuke's arm,  
almost leaning boldly on his side. "Guys, this is Uchiha Sasuke"

Sasuke may be unsociable, but he was a polite person, and so in an effort he was used to, shook hands with each of them.

"Why, Sasuke, it's good to finally meet you" Ino was saying, her hold far too strong for a girl. "Sakura has told us so much about you, we feel like we already know you, right, guys?"

Shikamaru yawned, looking disinterested. "Speak for yourself, woman"

Ino glared him down, subtly stepping on his foot. Shikamaru did not scream, because he was a man and because he was well trained to Yamanaka Ino's brutality, but those heels hurt like hell!

You did not argue with this woman.

"But who knew" Ino added, with a sly smile to divert the attention from Shikamaru, "You are way handsomer in reality than what she described, Sasuke"

At that, Sakura felt a twitch in her eyebrow, but refrained herself from saying what actually passed through her mind in the moment.

"Reaaally?" They all turned to Naruto, who was most decidedly invading any semblance of personal space by shamelessly staring straight in Sasuke's face. "He doesn't look like much to me" He said, scrunching his nose and narrowing his eyes at Uchiha's cool gaze and calm demeanor.

"Naruto!" Sakura slapped him upside the head, this time letting her inner self take over. "Don't open your big mouth already!"

Naruto was smiling sheepishly, apologizing only to Sakura while awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. 

"Sorry about him, Sasuke-kun, he's always speaking his mind, like a huge idiot!" She stressed the last words loud and clear in Naruto's face.Then her voice dropped to a regular tone and she smiled. "He's harmless, really" Sakura gave a strained laughter while trying not to glare at Naruto from the corner of her eye.

She had an image to maintain.

She finally coerced Sasuke to meet her friends, Sasuke Uchiha, the guy she's crushed on since forever, and Naruto could ruin it all in a few minutes.

This was a big step, in her future plans of making Uchiha Sasuke her devoted boyfriend. It already took her the longest time she spent on anything, befriending such a cool and aloof guy like him.

She really hoped Sasuke didn't take it to heart, that her friends were a little shameless.

Sasuke in turn, had his eyes on that rude blonde guy, who, aside from sincerely apologizing to Sakura, when out of her sight, his goofy expression turned back to bitter and resentful.

Odd, but it still did not hold Sasuke's attention more than a few seconds.

He wondered again, why did he agree to this, and why in the world did he ever befriend a shrill and gutsy girl like Haruno Sakura.

"Then, should we go now? I've especially hunted down some interesting places for today. Sasuke-kun, how about that cafe we saw a few weeks ago, near the station?"

Sasuke made a sound of acknowledgement,  
something that sounded like a 'hn', nodding his head vaguely in her direction.

Sakura seemed ridiculously thrilled, even at the smudge of attention she got from him, Naruto noticed.

What kind of sound was 'hn', anyway?!

 

×

 

Just as predicted, during their trip around the mall (why the mall, Sasuke had to ask, but he kept his opinion to himself) Sakura was shrill as always, Ino kept making inappropriate jokes to which Shikamaru would sigh in resignation and this Naruto will just throw him the glare. When he was not busy paying attention to Sakura, that is.

Sasuke could tell from twenty minutes into meeting the guy, he had a crush on Sakura and hard!

He acted like an oversized puppy, smiling and blushing at everything she said, giving her his utmost attention and overall relishing in her existence.

Sasuke was not her boyfriend or anything and he didn't intend to be, but she did seem to have some ideas of her own if always clinging to him was anything to go by.

It must suck for him big time, being here today.

 

And his rude behaviour made much more sense now, Sasuke thought.

 

They first shuffled their way into some random stores, the girls always having their birdy eyes attracted by anything colorful or shiny while Sasuke and Shikamaru were dragged along against their will.

Naruto didn't seem to mind it all that much,  
Sasuke noticed, as he kept putting on all kinds of hats and ridiculous sunglasses, making funny faces and constantly trying to be Sakura’s entertainment.

Ino herself tried some lady hats and scarves, piling her purse and coat on Shikamaru like he was her personal hanger to which he complained a lot but still let her.  
When he thought nobody was looking though, he would have a vague smile on his lips.

Sasuke spent his time observing them mostly, the way they interacted in their circle and their efforts to include him (minus Naruto who, at some point, must've decided he didn't exist) and sometimes humoring them by trying on a stupid thing or two.

They had a movie scheduled for the upcoming hour and still forty minutes or so to dawdle around and waste time.

They stopped at one of those ice cream stands, where Sakura and Naruto seemed the more excited.

"Naruto, don't be stupid, you can't balance five cups, it will go splat on the ground in no time!"

"Yes I can, I did it before!"

"In what reality?!" 

They kept bickering while everyone else chose their flavors, Sasuke getting just one cup (sweets weren't much his thing) and he thought they were kind of similar. Sakura could be fun when she didn't overly react in trying to please him or seem like this shy, overly gentle person around Sasuke.

 

This seemed a good reason to stay friends with her. If she could get over the idea of wanting more.

 

"Guys, your high-pitched voices are giving me an aneurism, decide already" Shikamaru was telling them, back to carrying Ino's jacket and purse while she enjoyed her ice cream. He didn't seem to want one himself.

They moved on from the ice cream stand, Naruto relenting for four cups instead of five, all very colorful and sprinkly.

Sasuke snorted, watching as he was getting it all over his face five minutes into eating.

Sakura turned towards him, her eyes big and sparkly.

"Are you having fun, Sasuke-kun?" She seemed to have tuned in to his amusement.

Sasuke gave her a small nod. 

He- supposed. He couldn't exactly call this 'fun' as big, noisy places and plenty of people wasn't exactly his thing but it was okay-ish.

She beamed at him, though. Naruto threw him a skeptical look and Sasuke wasn’t sure what that was for.

"Sorry if we're being too noisy for you, I know you like it more subdued" She was saying and he shrugged.

"How much longer 'till the movie starts?" Ino asked.

"Should be about ten or so"

"Shit, less than ten, we gotta make a run for it!" Naruto hollered right in Sasuke's ear from where he was sitting on his left, between him and Sakura. Sasuke winced.

"Calm down hombre, ten more minutes is just commercials" Shikamaru rolled his eyes in a lazy manner, somehow.

"Doesn't matter, I like those too!" And he actually made a run for it, leaving the rest of them to skedaddle after him.

Shikamaru was the last to drag his feet in the cinema, while they made their way to the seats on the very top, the ones in the middle.

Sasuke couldn't remember what the movie was called but it seemed half decent, at least for the parts where he paid it some attention instead of just snoozing in his chair.

He wished for some fresh air.

Ino and Sakura seemed particularly excited and he could see Naruto actually being quiet for once as he watched the screen.

There was a five minute squabble between him and Sakura, him wanting to sit between her and Sasuke again and Sakura putting her foot down.

She won, of course.

So Naruto was actually sitting to Sasuke's left, the few seats after him left empty.

It seemed odd that he didn't look bothered by it and he also relented pretty quick on the fight. 

Said movie was mostly action, superheroes and shooting and stuff, the usual thing guys were into. Some guy named Deadpool who had a bunch of inappropriate jokes to tell and some really nasty scars about him. 

Sasuke didn't care much for the ending.

Over the course of what had to be two hours,  
Sasuke sometimes got distracted by Naruto being in awe of the ongoing ons of this story,  
laughing obnoxiously at almost every joke and crunching on popcorn absentmindedly.

At some point, so absorbed he was in the movie that he actually nudged Sasuke with the popcorn box, asking him if wanted some, all the while not taking his eyes off the screen.

Sasuke was so stunned he actually did take it. 

Not much else happened and he didn't catch the entire ending as he started to snooze off and only blinked his eyes open when the lights came back on.

"You're drooling" Naruto was saying with a straight face which sobered Sasuke in a second. He scowled and wiped at his mouth but there wasn't much of anything. 

Then Naruto was laughing, loud enough to turn heads and Sasuke bumped him intentionally when he got up from his seat to head for the exit.

 

×

 

It was night and well past ten o'clock as they made their ways outside, a pleasant summer wind ruffling their clothes.

They were mostly discussing about the movie as always when coming out of such a group activity and of course Sasuke got pulled into it also, it was inevitable.

"So what did you think, Sasuke?" Ino asked him as Shikamaru and Naruto were contradicting on a particular 'cool' scene and Sakura was throwing her two cents into the argument also.

He wished he could skip this part.

But naturally all heads turned to him as Ino had a very sharp voice. Not sharper then Sakura's though.

"It was ok. Not my kind of thing though"

"What is your kind of thing, then?" Naruto, of all people was asking him and Sasuke halted his brain wheels for a few seconds before rebooting.

Was Naruto offended that he didn't like the movie?

"Uh, I prefer books, mostly" Then, because it didn't seem like a satisfactory answer for all of them, "But I did like Fight Club and Shutter Island a lot, if- you guys know them" He trailed off, watching them watching him so intently, as if they weren't talking about the movies, but something else far more serious.

"Ooh! You're into heavier ones, of course!"  
Ino said, then, "I mean, it matches your image, dark and mysterious and all that" She winked at him and the atmosphere eased.

"Never saw them" Naruto was saying to Sakura's right, now forgetting to sit between her and Sasuke as she came by his side again to ask him about more movies that he preferred.

"I saw them both, they're not your type, Naruto" Sakura waived him off and he bristled a bit.

"And how would you know?" 

"Don't get your pants in a bunch, what she means to say, is you'll probably get bored twenty minutes in. They don't have action or inappropriate humor as you like it" Shikamaru explained.

"You watched them?" Sasuke asked, now actually curious.

"Yeah, I lean more towards this genre like you. The Fight Club one got me impressed, really. The other one, I kind of saw it coming early in the movie"

"Shikamaru here is very hard to faze" Ino was laughing.

"And that's why his life is just so dull!" Naruto butted in and Sakura was laughing too "He's kind of right on this one, you know?"

"It's better than being a complete moron like you, you still get all excited about cartoons and ice cream" Shikamaru reasoned but he sounded a bit amused.

"Hey! Those are the the joys of life! Why do I hang with you guys, you're all so boring!" Then, to Sakura, "You're not boring, of course, you're just very mature"

There was laughter from left and right as Sakura cuffed him up the back and Sasuke felt more comfortable now then he had the rest of his time with them. His posture eased slightly and his lips quirked in an easy smile without realizing as he listened to them bicker.

He didn't see this either, Naruto giving him a curious look and later on scrunching his eyebrows comically as he did when thinking particularly hard.

 

×

 

They decided to linger for a while more, taking advantage of the warm saturday night and the few days left of summer.

Luckily they stumbled upon a cafe which closed around midnight and they all slumped in the comfy armchairs, ordering some fancy mixtures of teeth killers (Shikamaru's words) and chatting away about small nothings.

It was quieter and even though there were quite a few other groups, everyone kept their tone down, keeping a nice atmosphere about the place.

The doors were open and cool air trailed in from outside, strands of lights lining the wall behind them.

"And what did you say this thing is called?"  
Shikamaru was asking Sakura, who insisted she order it for him. Apparently he had a sweet tooth. 

"Health Boost"

"Ha Ha"

"I'm kidding you not" She said, and Shikamaru eyed the overflowing jar of what looked like a bunch of liquid chocolate with dark trails of ice cream, topped to the brim with two more cups of ice cream, caramel, one piece of- cake- and some sticks sticking out of the whole mumbo jumbo.

"That is a very detailed, uh, dessert?" Sasuke commented, his eyebrows topping his hairline.

"Yup" Naruto popped the 'p', whistling at the cavity monster Shikamaru was about to indulge in.

"There's, probably no way I'll eat this on my own"

"Aw, I can help!" Ino piped in, nudging him playfully with her shoulder.

Sasuke looked at Naruto's drink… if that's what it was. 

It wasn't as exaggerated but it was blue-ish, with tints of purple, probably blueberries or something, yet again topped by two cups of ice cream, blue and purple, sprinkled with more spacey colors on top.

Yep, definitely space themed. His eyebrow raised on its own.

"What?! You got a problem with my drink, Sasuke?!" Naruto called him on it and Sasuke was too busy registering that this was pretty much the first time he'd actually called him by his name, that he forgot the question.

Apparently he zoned out and the tension in Naruto's shoulders dissipated when the waiter brought two more drinks to the table.

Which looked like regular stuff this time.

Sasuke shook himself, wondering why he would care about such a small detail anyway and cupped his coffee. Normal coffee, thank you.

Naruto kept throwing him the stink eye every time Sasuke eyed his drink which he found funny for some reason so he kept doing it, just to spite him. 

Shikamaru and Sakura were testing each other's- beverages. She had some smoothie in a plastic jar topped with whip cream.

"I would have to quit sugar for an entire year if I had to eat this whole thing" She was saying to Ino, who completely agreed. Sharing Shikamaru's monstrosity in her case meant just eating an oreo and a spoonful of cake. She refused to touch it after that and went back to her Pepsi.

"So boring, Ino" Naruto made a face at her, "Drinking regular Pepsi in such an interesting place. You and this guy here are boooring" He gestured at Sasuke, almost jabbing him in the shoulder with his spoon.

"Hey, you don't have a silhouette to maintain so quit your yapping" She flipped her hair at him, a long mane of blonde ponytail.

Naruto sputtered, probably because it slapped him in the face. He made fake gagging noises. "Ah shit, I think I'm actually choking" 

Ino patted him on the back mercifully "That would be such a wonderful way to die. I've worked hard on this beauty"

She indeed had the longest, silkiest hair Sasuke's ever seen. But it was of a more faded yellow, like a corn field, where as Naruto's for example, was sunnier and brighter-

And who the fuck cared about the difference between their hair colors?!

 

Sakura was actually offering him a taste of her milkshake and he grudgingly accepted which in turn made Naruto want to compete somehow because he was pushing his colorful dessert in her direction and she did indulge him in a bite.

 

Sasuke sighed, huffing a slow laugh. He didn't know for what.

 

x

 

Somewhere along the way they decided nobody is going to get some sleep this night and a bit before the cafe closed and long after they consumed their 'creative' drinks, Sakura and Ino decided that they should stumble to the non-stop store near the subway for some good old alcohol.

Nobody seemed against it. Sasuke himself just shrugged.

 

Why not?

They walked for a good while, searching for the appropriate place to linger while opening a very obvious pack of beers. Four, more like. (Naruto insisted he could drink them all under the table).

 

Down some stairs leading to a clutter of homey blocks was a pretty decent sized kid's park with swings, slides and cushioned ground from whatever they had under them so the more reckless children wouldn't get hurt.

And some benches which they all slumped on, eager to release the good stuff from their bags.

 

Naruto didn't drink them all under the table.  
Shikamaru did, however.

And he was currently holding Naruto down  
from wanting to climb the slade. He had good intentions but it didn't last for long as he was too lazy to keep it up and Naruto seemed like a very determined guy, really.

He'd probably had about four cans or so but he seemed pretty buzzed and the chances of him toppling head first on that slide weren't that slim.

"I tried" Shikamaru said as Naruto was climbing the stairs, raising his hands in his defence. 

"Be careful, Naruto!" Sakura was saying and she seemed pretty buzzed, herself. Ino was on the start of a giggle, like someone was tickling her.

"This is for you, Sakura-chan!!" Naruto claimed, throwing a thumbs up and a full on grin her way like he was dedicating his inebriated skills to her.

"Ok, but don't break anything!" She sounded honest and smiling between short laughs.

 

And down he went. It was a pretty decent sized slide for a small park. But it did last for a few seconds only, in which Naruto shrieked like a four year old, thumbling head over feet to the end, landing with baited breath and his butt in the air somehow but otherwise unharmed.

Critters in the background and a gust of wind.

Sakura burst out laughing, a full on guffaw which set off everyone else into doing the same, including Sasuke himself.

Ino was rolling off the bench in her frenzy and even Shikamaru seemed to have a hard time restraining his weird laughter, which sounded more like snorting but got lost in the cacophony anyway.

Naruto was laughing too, once Sakura helped him to his feet, his hair all over the place and- yeah.

They were all so buzzed. Laughter was contagious and five minutes in, probably nobody even remembered the reason it started in the first place.

After that, it was like a dam broke and Sasuke saw himself being dragged to the swings by Ino and he went without much protest. 

The air rushing past his warm face felt so good and he was not registering this but he was actually having fun, jokingly competing with her  
on which one swinged higher. She whooped between bouts of giggles.

Sakura and Naruto were balancing on a weird thing which kept going up and down and they had to push their feet on the ground in turns, whoever was down, in order to push the other up. Sasuke really couldn't remember if that thing ever had a name but it was such an old thing, he's probably seen it in every children's park.

"Higher!" Ino was screaming.

"Higheer" Sakura and Naruto screamed too, although they really couldn't go higher than a meter and a half or so from the ground on that thing they were on.

"You guys are ridiculous" Shikamaru was smiling at them, smoking a cigar on the bench and looking thoroughly relaxed.

 

A bit later on, Sasuke and Ino were sprawled on the ground, exhausted as if they ran for miles, not swinging in the air or anything.

Even later on, somebody put a playlist on their phone on speaker and after having run around on all rides like in an actual amusement park, turned to the remaining cold-ish beers.

"Truth or-" Naruto started.

"Don't finish that sentence!" Sakura jumped on him and he actually squicked.

"Dare? Really, Naruto, are you twelve?" Ino was with her.

They were sat in a sort of circle, Shikamaru lying on his side with yet another smoke between his lips and Naruto sprawled himself on his back, almost knocking down his can in the process.

"He's not twelve, this is just the perfect cliche setting for it" Shikamaru pointed out and Sasuke shrugged when they made eye contact.

"Would it kill you to answer with yes or no?" Naruto said from his side where his hand was playing with Sakura's shoelaces. 

Sasuke looked down at him, face straight.  
"Yes" he said.

"Ugh!" 

"Guys, do we play?" Ino asked, now seemingly a bit intrigued. "It's been forever, I actually kind of miss it" Her eyes were sort of sparkling.

"Fiiine" Sakura relented, grudgingly. "But no ridiculous dares!"

"Where's the fun in that, Sakura?" Ino thumbed her on the forehead playfully and Naruto was rising in a more normal position.

"Okay, let's do this!!"

"Roll the can, boys!!" Ino urged.

 

The can was too light to be rolled in a circle but they played without it, until they figured they could use a full one, granted no one risked opening it any time soon after they were done with it.

"Truth" Sakura was saying to Naruto and he snickered at her.

"Most embarrassing nickname you ever had"

She scrunched her nose, contemplating if she should take it or not. "Big forehead" She sighed eventually, throwing him the stink eye.

Naruto, it seems, was trying very hard not to laugh, probably imagining himself being pummeled to death by a sober Sakura later on.

"That's- ahah- cute" He said on a snigger.

"Oh it wasn't cute when she had it" Ino said, laughing shamelessly.

"Shut up, Ino pig" Sakura said, with no trace of malice in her voice.

They stared at one another with narrowed eyes for a couple seconds then of course, burst into girly giggles.

 

"Most embarrassing moment of your life, Naruto" Sakura took her revenge on him later when he mistakenly went for truth also. "I would know you had many" 

"Uhh-" Naruto started, "Hard to say, indeed"  
Sasuke snorted quietly, imagining Naruto as the sort of guy who'd get in constant trouble since he learned to walk, most likely.  
His reaction was drowned out by the current song playing. Something about being lazy today.

 

"Ok, must've been that time when grandpa gave me permission to bring one of his books to school, although he said it jokingly and totally thought I caught on to that but I actually took it and we had this class event for reading your favorite literature in front of everyone-"

"No way" Shikamaru face-palmed but Ino shushed him quickly.

"Yes way, I read it. My favorite chapter. One paragraph in particular. I was eleven"

"What did it say?!" Sakura asked and Ino nodded frantically at him to keep going.  
Sasuke thought he should assume the worst  
based on their mortified but eager reactions.

"You guys know what books my grandpa writes, come on-" Naruto was saying but then seemed to relent and cleared his throat theatrically to start quoting.

" 'And as he sat down at the table, he nudged her with his foot from where she stood under, ready to make his day exciting. He relished in the danger as he watched his relatives indulge in poor quality wine and useless conversation. He felt her hands on him, sliding in the warmest of places and he shuddered, wanting her to start already but also tease him some more. When she started mouthing at him through his slacks he hit his knee in the table, swallowing a cuss word which-"

"There's no way you read that in class" Sakura interrupted and Ino stomped on her foot, seeming too enraptured by the whole thing. Shikamaru groaned.

Naruto just continued where he left off "Which his grandmother wouldn't appreciate because it was the nastiest one he could think of because- oh. She was unzipping him with her teeth, he could feel it. He smiled at somebody who asked him if he was alright, not registering anything else but her hot mouth taking him inside, sucking him out of existence and-" He took a deep breath, "That's all I can remember, actually. I liked the prelude a lot, I remember."

"Jesus" Sakura looked a bit mortified and then, "You're not lying about this?!" 

"I actually read just to the part with 'He felt her hands on him' " then my teacher interrupted me because it was getting suspiciously dirty. But you can imagine what followed, kids are curious and this thing didn't blow away without my parents finding out about it" He laughed and Shikamaru laughed with him. "It was a literal hell hole in the principal's office for both me and everyone else involved" 

Sasuke didn't know what to think of this. Can a kid actually be this moronic as to read an adult book out loud to his teacher at eleven years old?

"I actually remember your grandpa almost got a fine for this. Tsunade made him sleep in the hammock outside for three weeks"

"Do you guys believe him?!" Ino asked.

"I actually believe him" Sakura said, with the air of a friend who went through a lot of exasperated times like this.

"I got punished for two months!!" Naruto defended, making a face at Ino. "Don't even remind me how bad that was, only school, food and bed. No means of distraction whatsoever. It was like real jail!"

"For you, yes" Shikamaru acknowledged and Naruto chugged the rest of his can in response.

 

Then followed a few more drunken truth or dares where everyone kept shuffling off an actual dare for some reason and so Sasuke's turn came again after he awkwardly refused to tell the truth at the first question so they let him go with a second one (it was too personal, ok?) and yes. His turn. Again.

"Dare" He said, to compensate for it and because nobody said it yet and he wasn't one to shy from a challenge.

"Uh oh, Sasukee" Ino was delighted, throwing him an all too malicious grin. "This is punishment for refusing the first question by the way" He did dread it a bit. She seemed like a scary person.

"I dare you, Sasuke Uchiha, to- dance with Naruto!!" 

There was extreme silence for a long moment in which even the music was changing.

Silence.

Then raised voices as everyone started all at once.

Naruto of course, was the first to holler in Sasuke's ear. Again. "No fucking way!!!"

Loud mouthed idiot.

"Ino, are you crazy?" Sakura was asking and Shikamaru made a vague attempt at calming the waters but again, gave up quickly in the face of three very loud and determined people.

"You're not gonna say no this time, are you?" Then, to the boy beside him "Shut up, Naruto, this doesn't concern you. It's my personal revenge!" 

He sputtered uselessly at her, drowned out by Sakura's voice. "You're making Sasuke-kun uncomfortable!" She was glaring daggers at Ino, not actually trying to find out what he thought about this.

"I'll do it" Sasuke said simply, shutting them all up. His head was starting to hurt.

"Oh man" Shikamaru looked sympathetically at him.

"Awesome! The rest of you, stop dramatizing about this. Naruto, it's not like you're getting your first kiss or anything!" Ino winked at Sasuke then and he raised himself, albeit a bit shaky on his feet.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Naruto tried one last time but resigned himself after being promptly denied.

There was a lot of resignation tonight from everyone's ends.

"Does it matter what dance or-" Sasuke started, not knowing where to begin, even.

He was not getting cold feet about this.

"Nope" Ino said. "The only rule is to actually dance together and that includes touching hands and relying a bit on each other. Come on boys!" She clapped her hands decisively and went to click next on the playlist as the song currently playing was in the middle already.

Sasuke didn't recognize the new one that started but it was chill enough, not really slow but not bouncy either.

He glanced at Naruto who shuffled next to him, hovering like a kicked puppy on the sidewalk. Then he seemed to swallow his  
nerves and unwillingness to play a part in this and Sasuke watched with fascination as his features slowly collected themselves.

He bowed, jokingly, in a 'let me invite you to dance' manner and almost smiled in Sasuke's direction.

"Uh oh, that's his serious face" He heard Sakura say, then Ino must've nudged her because she promptly shut up.

They start from scratch, completely, two dizzy boys stumbling on their feet, trying to pull together a dance of all things, one that takes two people and not just swinging aimlessly on your own.

In an attempt not to laugh, Naruto seemed to close his eyes. Sasuke took a deep breath and let go of the uncomfortable feeling of being watched for the few seconds it took to approach Naruto a bit.

 

A two feet distance between them and they glanced at each other, not having enough time to communicate anything from eye contact as it would have cracked them both up, most likely.

Imagining Naruto was a girl wasn't helping either as the situation itself was just one Sasuke wouldn't willingly be put in.

But he was willing. Nobody forced him into this.

He tried to listen to the song, concentrate on the lyrics, take in the rhythm, anything.

 

"- ing voices deep from you  
Led by a beating heart  
What a year and what a night  
What terrifying final sights

 

He felt too self-conscious.

He closed his eyes, trying to figure out how he could move along to this tune. 

 

But, this is your heart  
Can you feel it?  
Can you feel it?  
Pumps through your veins  
Can you feel it?  
Can you feel it?

 

He could do it, probably. He had no idea what he was doing but he started moving with it, swaying and listening.

Turning.

Keep your eyes closed. Makes it so much easier.

Move the feet too, that's what dancing is probably about.

 

Don't think about what you're doing.

They were too aware of each other for this to be easy.

 

Summer evening breezes bloom  
Drawing voices deep from you  
Led by a beating heart-

 

"Sasuke, you're dancing with yourself" Ino was saying, her tone level but distracting.

 

What terrifying final sights  
Put out your beating heart

 

Made him open his eyes and think his whole concentration was over but he glanced at Naruto and he was sniggering. 

Sasuke sniggered back, albeit with less teeth and whatever moved him, he actually took Naruto's hand in a second of simple action, no thinking.

 

You ran into the night, you can't be found

 

But, this is your heart  
Can you feel it?  
Can you feel it?  
Pumps through your veins  
Can you feel it?  
Can you feel it?

 

He let his brain shut down, felt it slowly go a bit dark. Relished the pleasant buzz in his bones and the warmth in his body. It felt good. Gosh, he was drunk, wasn't he?

No way he'd be doing this sober.

Naruto grabbed his hand more firmly and they circled each other. In a totally, 'I'm dancing with you' manner. Probably.

Hell if he knew what all of this looked like.

Probably like two geese flapping their wings about, in the most awkward of ways.

He released Naruto's hand, they grabbed each other's wrists in a wobbly move, let go again.

 

If you had your gun  
Would you shoot it at the sky?  
Why?  
To see where your bullet would fall?  
Oh, will you come down at all?

 

Naruto's hand felt clammy back in his own but he found he didn't really care as they started getting a bit carried away by the song. He glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and Naruto had his eyes closed, looking like he enjoyed the wind as they swayed in a circle of sorts. Holding the other's wrist and pulling on each other's weight.

 

This is your racing heart  
Can you feel it?  
Can you feel it?  
Pumps through your veins  
Can you feel it?  
Can you feel it?

 

Sasuke felt it too, the pleasant summer wind in his hair.

They still did their thing, not really minding anything else around them, lest they break the carefully constructed spell.

Not noticing when the song switched to a more jumpy one

.

Wasted (wasted)  
And the more I drink the more I think about you  
Oh no, no, I can't take it  
Baby, every place I go reminds me of you

 

Way into the second verse and nobody was saying anything to stop them as they seemed to pick up in pace, spinning in place and jumping even (jumping for fun was not something Sasuke ever did!).

 

Do you think of me?  
Of what we used to be?  
Is it better now that I'm not around?  
My friends are actin' strange  
They don't bring up your name  
Are you happy now?  
Are you happy now?

 

Naruto threw his head back and he was full on laughing and that seemed to be the dam for Sasuke, who grabbed him by his hoodie and spun them both around like a lunatic-

There was a lot of spinning and this was totally not dancing.

 

I don't wanna know, know, know, know  
Who's taking you home, home, home, home  
And loving you so, so, so, so  
The way I used to love you, no  
I don't wanna know, know, know, know  
Who's taking you home, home, home, home  
And loving you so, so, so, so  
The way I used to love you, oh  
I don't wanna know

 

Their chests touched and they kind of bumped foreheads, stumbling away from each other, grinning and laughing, Naruto singing along to the chorus.

 

And every time I go out, yeah  
I hear it from this one, I hear it from that one  
That you got someone new  
Yeah, I see but I don't believe it  
Even in my head you're still in my bed  
Maybe I'm just a fool

"A fool!" Naruto repeated to no one, his hair wild about his blonde head. There was a bit of sweat lingering on his brow.

 

Do you think of me?  
Of what we used to be?  
Is it better now that I'm not around?  
My friends are actin' strange  
They don't bring up your name  
Are you happy now?  
Are you happy now?

 

He made a weird jerky movement with his arms, his feet moving fast and in sync all of a sudden, for a drunk person. 

Then he was all up in Sasuke's space, and Sasuke had a deja-vu of when they first met but the look on his face was open and his eyes blue and clear like the sky and he didn't know what that weird jump in his chest was but it felt like a pitter patter as Naruto flicked him in the nose then he was spinning him in a wide circle, again!- hollering the lyrics to the top of his lungs.

 

No more, please stop  
No more hashtag boo'd up screenshots  
No more tryin' make me jealous on your birthday  
You know just how I made you better on your birthday, oh  
Do he do you like this, do he woo you like this?  
Do he lay it down for you, touch your poona like this?  
Matter fact, never mind, we gon' let the past be  
May be his right now, but your body's still mine, woah

 

It was definitely a weird song to have his first dance on. If you could count all this childish spinning as dancing.

He could hear laughter in the background too, he thought, but his eyes couldn't be moved from the sight in front of him, of this boy with sun in his hair and the sky in his eyes, bringing Sasuke down to a ten year old mind level.

Naruto had to have super-powers or something.

 

I don't wanna know, know, know, know  
Who's taking you home, home, home, home  
And loving you so, so, so, so  
The way I used to love you, no  
I don't wanna know, know, know, know  
Who's taking you home, home, home, home  
And loving you so, so, so,- "

 

Who the fuck cared?!!

 

They were only halting in their movement when he felt people closing in and Sasuke was pretty sure all this spinning was a very bad idea after all that beer but well-

That was for future Sasuke to worry about.

Then they were surrounded by Ino and Sakura who dragged a very unwilling Shikamaru along. The giddiness seemed to have transferred to them completely as they joined in and oh, yeah, they actually knew how to dance, they were girls.

"I'm too sober for this shit" Shikamaru was saying as he slowly extracted himself from the pile in a circle, uh oh, not spinning again, but Sasuke actually kind of liked spinning and he almost stumbled on his own two feet over there.

He felt Naruto hanging on to his arm and keeping him upright but he wasn't looking at him. His eyes were closed in joy, in a feeling of complete carelessness and they were all taking in the rush, breathing in the fresh air, giggling like stupid kids.

 

I don't wanna know, know, know, know  
Who's taking you home, home, home, home  
And loving you so, so, so, so  
The way I used to love you, oh  
I don't wanna know

 

Come the end of the song, they were gasping like crazy, feeling the dizziness for good this time and Naruto with Sasuke crashed in a pile of limbs, leaving the spotlight to Ino and Sakura who were just starting to warm up.

They were dancing together, not really minding them for leaving the circle.

 

And the two of them just lay there, gasping for breath, sweat cooling on their necks, a giddy rush still in their lungs, trailing in their bodies like an afterglow.

 

And that was a bizarre word for comparison. Ok.

Naruto was looking at him sideways when Sasuke turned his head in his direction.

"So you do have it in you" He was saying between bated breaths, his lips still curving on that blinding smile.

"You're contagious" Sasuke allowed, feeling a weird burn in his neck. It was gonna hurt a bit tomorrow. Today.

Whatever.

Naruto turned towards him, still lying on the ground and Sasuke only now noticed the few centimeters between them and the tiny weed sprouting a yellow flower between the cracks.

"Am I?" Naruto asked, his voice sounding coy.

 

"Very" Sasuke conceded. He was an honest drunk, it seemed.

 

"What else?" Naruto fished, his hand reaching out to brush Sasuke's sweaty hair away from his brow.

He smelled like detergent and some citrusy shampoo, his eyes playful like passing white clouds in the sky.

"Beautiful" Sasuke blurted. 

 

They both blinked slowly.

 

Naruto's eyes clouded over and Sasuke froze. It looked like a passing storm.

But then, without completely clearing out or bringing down the actual hurricane upon them, they seemed to get hazy, like a yellow evening after a warm drizzle.

Naruto looked contemplative as he said,  
"I should punch you in the face but I kinda want to kiss you now" All in one breath.

"So what's stopping you?" Sasuke asked, his heart in his throat and his brain completely shut down a while ago.

Huh

Naruto seemed torn, his own brain likely too hazy to completely reason the implications of that question.

"You like her, don't you?" Sasuke asked on a smile which felt indulgent on his lips. 

Naruto blinked at him, nodded slowly, albeit a bit confused. 

"I- do. But she likes you, so..." He trailed off, not seeing an end to this maze.

"And I kind of like you" Sasuke said then actually registered that statement and started laughing. "Oh fuck, who's dating who, here? This is a mess-"

"Wait, wait, back up- you like me?!" Naruto looked at him like he sprouted a second head and likely a third eye or something.

Sasuke quieted, sobering up for a few seconds. "If all the things I noticed about you today and how your reactions rile me up is anything to go by- yeah. Think I do"

"But. Then what are you doing- you better not lead her on you bastard!!" 

Wow, was he pretty like this, getting all defensive for her. "Not planning on that. I like her as a friend, that's all. I just hoped today will make it a bit more obvious for her"

Naruto watched him, scrutinizing his expressions it seemed, trying to read some lie into this. "She's been talking about you for months now, you're very bad at giving a hint, aren't you?"

"I- she has?"

"Yeah"

"Oh. Sorry" Sasuke felt the need to close his eyes. "I- yeah, I'm pretty bad at this kind of shit. I can tell you all this right now because I'm drunk enough" 

He felt Naruto's breath huffing in exasperation. Then a hand was flicking his forehead and it reminded him oddly of his brother.

"I can't tell you for sure I like you- I mean, I've only met you for a day and I sure hated you for taking her attention from me so quickly when I've fought for it for years but- " He trailed off, catching on a breath. "But there is still something intriguing about you and I hate to admit you're not bad looking- ok, definitely hot but still doesn't explain why the fuck I still want to kiss you when-" 

"Naruto" Sasuke interrupted him, opening his eyes to look at him upside down. He was a bit red in the ears and his hair swished lightly in the wind. "You're rambling"

Naruto kept quiet for a few seconds, looking conflicted. Then he sighed. "I just don't want to be the asshole to hurt her and this is very confusing. You have a really bad timing, you know?"

"Maybe. Maybe you don't like me at all and you just felt like kissing me because you're just as drunk" Sasuke tried. 

It would make sense after all. Things were happening too sudden to feel solid in any way. 

"I've been drunk plenty of times around hot people before. And-"

"You didn't get the urge to kiss them?"

"Well- yeaah, but-"

"Yeah. We're fucked"

Nobody said anything for a few moments.

"Yup. So fucked" Naruto agreed.


End file.
